The plentiful spices in these grown-up ginger biscuits will stop them becoming too sweet, even when iced.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Lightly butter a baking tray.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the black treacle or molasses.
Break the cardamom pods open and crush the seeds finely. Add them to the mixture with the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, ginger and egg yolk.
Beat in a couple of tablespoons of milk and then bring it all together to form a dough.
Roll the dough out on a floured surface to a £1 coin thickness. Cut into your desired shapes.
Lay the biscuits on the buttered baking tray and bake for 12-14 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Combine the icing sugar and the lemon juice in a bowl until smooth. Ice the biscuits with a pattern of your choosing.